Central Huron will be celebrating National AccessAbility Week on Tuesday, as well as recognizing some of the steps it has taken over the past few years towards a more accessible Clinton downtown.
Community Improvement Coordinator Angela Smith says it was a car accident that left her mother in need of a wheelchair that turned her into a champion of accessibility.
“If you haven't experienced it, you don't quite understand it and I know that people are interested and they want to be more aware and involved so we're giving this opportunity for people to come and join us and focus on accessibility,” she said.
As the person who took her mother shopping, Smith learned very quickly that it was difficult in any small town. Some stores have heavy doors, no automatic openers, steps to enter and so on. Given that, she realized that they were eliminating a large percentage of their population from ever shopping in Clinton.
Tuesday's event will give people a chance to see some of the improvements that have been made recently in the downtown area. Some of the improvements that have been made in Clinton using grant money include: 16 additional stores got auto door openers, each store with a step had a grab bar installed, every downtown store was provided with a chair to place on the sidewalk, and stores with steps had yellow visibility strips painted on them for the visually impaired.
Smith says she has been honoured to receive both County and Provincial awards for these accessibility improvements, which she refers to all together as “The Shoppability Project.”
Tuesday night's event starts at 7 p.m. at Millennium Park in Clinton. On top of seeing the latest accessibility improvements, Smith says they'll have an exercise to help raise awareness of accessibility issues.
“We have a series of mobility aids they can choose and just really get a feel, although extremely brief, for what different people have as a challenge every day and hopefully then people will be more aware and help us in the quest to eliminate barriers,” she said.
Anyone with any questions can email cic@centralhuron.com.